


Is this after?

by AlexanderDragon66



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Domestic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 09:27:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13521363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexanderDragon66/pseuds/AlexanderDragon66
Summary: Karen and Frank find a kid. Fluffy and kinda domestic





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how many chapters this is gonna be but there'll be more

Of course it would start with a story. With an interview gone wrong. She had gotten to the apartment building where she was going to meet the source for her new story. Something about human trafficking that made her blood boil. Up the rickety stairs with god only knows what on the banisters to apartment 302. She's glad she told Frank where she was going tonight and texted him when she got here. 302 was, of course, at the opposite end of the hall from the stairs. Karen took a deep breath and stepped towards the door. 

Sometimes she swore she had instincts from just being around Frank and Matt and the chaos that inevitably followed. She had already stepped away, towards the wall, and had her hand on her gun before the shot sounded on the other side. She took the next few seconds to hide in what looked like an ancient supply closet she hadn't that she hadn't realized she noticed.

"Dammit," she thinks as she hears footsteps pass and the killers head down the stairs. She texts Frank while she waits.  
"pretty sure my source is dead. wanna help me look for anything that could help me?" His exasperation is clear in his reply and she smiles.  
"Fine. Don't move until I get there"  
Five minutes later the door creaked open. 

"Remind me never to play hide and seek with you," Karen grumbles and strides past with a small smile. She can almost feel him rolling his eyes but he lets her go first. 

 

Frank wasn't sure when they had started doing this. Legally he's Pete Castiglione, normal guy but on nights like tonight, when Karen had to do stuff like this, he isn't sure if he would remember to answer to Pete. He had acted as backup for her enough that he knows she's worried about what they might find. He busies himself watching her six, smiling fondly. 

 

The place was trashed, no surprises there. Karen starts right in on the living room, careful not to leave prints on anything. So Frank does a quick sweep through the other rooms. He finds the usual: drugs, empty takeout and pizza boxes, nothing too bad until he comes to what looks like a small bedroom, maybe an office. 

"Karen," he called as soon as he opened the door and the smell his him. It smells like a war zone in there but as soon as he speaks a thin cry, more of a whine, meets his ears.

"Did you find-" she swallows the rest of the sentence while she tries to remember how to breathe, a hand clamped over her mouth. "God, I'm going to throw up!"

"Karen, Karen look," he knows there are tears in his eyes but he can't deal with that, not yet. She doesn't comment on the tremor in his voice, just comes to his side, a gentle hand on his shoulder, to see what has him almost to his knees.

She bites back a sob when she sees the bed in the corner. A woman and a small child. The woman has clearly been dead for a few days and Karen wishes the man's death had not been so quick. The kid is clutching an empty bottle and staring at them with wide eyes. Frank's got tears in his eyes.

"Hey there kiddo," he's cooing. His voice is ridiculously soft and Karen melts as he sits and talks to the toddler. She can't tell if it's a boy or a girl under all the grime and next thing she knows they're climbing over their dead mother and into Frank's arms." Poor kid's maybe two," he murmurs to her, eyes roving around the room. He finds what he's looking for on the floor. He grabs the basket full of diapers and wipes and heads to the bathroom.

After that Karen is fairly sure the search was over. She follows the sound of Frank's soft voice to the bathroom where he's wiping the layer of filth off the babbling kid. "So," she begins, "now what?"  
His hands stop. "She's gonna need to eat something. She can probably do solids, looks like she has most of her teeth."  
"Frank," this is a crime scene. At some point the cops are gonna show up. Are we gonna call them? What about the baby? How are we gonna explain how clean she is now? What's our next move, Frank? "

As Frank held the child against his chest, she sees his panic starting to overflow. "I- Karen I don't know. I can't leave her like this." Instead of answering, she just presses her forehead against his, reminding them both of months ago in the elevator. His frantic energy, now, as then, ebbs and he's able to think. "We could call," he answers slowly. "We could tell some truth. You came to meet a source and I came as backup. The door was open and the smell led us to the kid."

"That's... actually a pretty good idea." In the same breath, she's dialing the police. "As long as they don't send Mahoney, we're good."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light domestic fluff ahead while I figure out where I'm going with this

Fifteen minutes later, they're selling the story to one of the two cops the NYPD could spare for a non emergency. Karen does most of the talking, explaining that she likes to keep Pete around for backup when she goes to meet sketchy sources so late and when they got here the door was open.  
"The smell hit us and we had to go see if we needed to call an ambulance or just you guys. It was awful."    
Frank winds his free arm around her waist and adds, "lady in the back's been dead for a while and this little one was filthy. I uh, wiped her down and changed her diaper in the bathroom. Couldn't leave her like that."   
"Alright so any fingerprints we find in the bathroom will have to be matched against both of yours. If you would just come down to the station we'll get your prints and by then maybe someone from social services will have returned my phone call and they'll take the kid."   
Frank visibly recoils and said his eyes harden,"both our prints are in the system; look at this poor kid. She's exhausted." He nodded at the little girl sucking her thumb against his chest.   
"Well, why don't we keep her tonight and tomorrow we can come to the station and talk to social services?" Karen asks, rubbing circles on Frank's back, "you have all our information and everyone knows how overworked child services are."

The officer thinks about it, seemingly weighing the options and coming to the conclusion most people would at 11:30 on a Wednesday. "Oh, alright, I know CPS can get there by one tomorrow. You can discuss it with them. Here's my card if you remember anything."  On that note, he spins towards the crime scene, leaving them in the hall.

It isn't too far to walk back to Karen's and they do need to stop for nessessities on the way. Karen's watching Frank's back now even if her chest constricts a little every time she looks at him. He catches her eye for the fourth time in five minutes and chuckles, "what? I can be gentle."  
"I know," she smiles at him and his heart stutters a little, "it's just, soft Frank isn't something I get to see much. It's a good look for you. By the time they get to her apartment, the baby's awake and looking around with wide brown eyes.

"It's alright sweetheart," Frank murmurs," we're gonna get you a good bath, then bedtime, 'k sunshine?"  
"K." She nods sleepily. Karen follows them into the bathroom and watches as, for the first time since she's known him, the Punisher falls away entirely and she's looking at Frank. Frank the way he was before his life was stolen from him. He'd taken off his sweatshirt and vest and looked just like any father, giving his kid a bath. The sight pulls at her, sadness for what he's lost warring with the warmth pooling in her belly. She grabs a fluffy towel as he lathers the little girl in lavender sented soap. Soon bathtime is over and she's giggling and yawning as he dries and clothes her.  
"Where's she gonna sleep?" Karen asks when she's cradled in Frank's arms again, looking like she belongs there (she does Karen can feel it in every fiber of her being), "I don't want her to roll off the bed."

"I figured we could push the couch against the wall and I'll sleep on the floor."  
"You don't have to sleep on the floor! Come on Frank, my room isn't that far, we'll hear if she cries." Karen spends the next few minutes rearranging her living room before heading to the shower.

Frank scrubbs a hand over his face. It's been so long since his kids were that small. He knows this little one needs affection and he's more than happy to give it. It makes him feel cleaner somehow, that he can remember feelings like these, that maybe he's not completely broken. The baby is asleep and he's listening to Karen in the shower when their conversation all those months ago comes back to him. She had said she wanted him to have an after but he still isn't sure if she knows how much he needs her to be part of it. Her voice jars him from his thoughts.   
"Alright Frank, your turn. There's plenty of hot water left." They both know he's spent the night before. He even keeps some ratty sweats there but he always sleeps on the couch. He mumbles a thank you and wonders if she's as nervous as he is.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serious discussions and a little light cuddling

Frank steps out of the bathroom after his shower and finds Karen hovering in the kitchen. "Hey," he says quietly, "you okay?"  
She gives him a small smile, "I should be asking you that. I mean, after everything... How are you holding up?"  
"Tell you the truth, it hurts. But it's an old hurt, like a broken bone when it rains. But  maybe that pain is worth after." The last word came out a whisper and together they then to the living room to check on the tiny form sprawled on the couch, blonde hair sticking up everywhere.  
"Time for bed, Frank," she whispers sometime later and pulls him into her room. They lay under the covers, her hand on his arm, until he sighs and turns to face her in the darkness.  
"I can't. I can't put her in the system. Karen, how am I supposed to just do this to her? She trusts me!"  
She cups his cheek, still bearded but short, dodging the hipster look. It had been almost a year since Billy. They had gone out for coffee more, he had gone out at night less. Karen muses he hadn't been out in almost a month. As her hand runs through the course hair, she asks the question that has plagued her since he picked up the child the first time, the one that almost drove her to her knees when he said the word after. They hadn't spoken about that day. It was messy and raw and riddled with too many emotions but they both knew it was possible. "Frank, what do you want from your after? From me? You know I'd never rush you but tomorrow we're supposed to go surrender that girl to child services and I need to know." 

His breath hitches and suddenly he seems fragile. "When I think of after, I know I want it to be with you. I'm just - I'm dangerous, Karen. My family's gone because of me and I can't do that again! I can't do that to you. " He pauses, breathing heavily, "part of me wants to run as far away from that girl as I can get but I can't. I just can't." They're facing each other in the darkness, hands clasped together.  
"Legally, you're clear, Pete Castiglione is a free man. Billy's dead and Homeland's on your side. You wouldn't be you if you didn't worry but if that little girl doesn't have any family that can take care of her, do you want us to be her family? We can change as little or as much as you want but whatever you decide, I'm with you." Their joined hands are clasped against her chest now (when did that happen) and she presses a kiss against his knuckles. "We have until one o'clock, try to get some sleep."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was kicking my ass all over the place! Tell me what you think (please)

Frank had never been one for sleeping in and today was no exception. Karen woke to a cold space beside her, the smell of fresh coffee, and Frank singing nursery rhymes. She can't help but stare from the doorway at Frank, her Frank, feeding a baby with golden hair and brown eyes (so much like his) while singing "here we go round the mulberry bush."   
"Morning," Frank greets with a smile when he sees her. He has the baby on his lap eating scrambled eggs with her hands. "Well, she likes eggs and is good with the sippy cup. The lively girl waves the cup in the air, seemingly in agreement and misses Frank's nose by an inch. 

"That's great, Frank!" She responds with a smile of her own above her coffee. "Have you though about what we're gonna do? I honestly don't think I've ever seen you this relaxed." 

He just shrugs, the smile never leaving his face even if his eyes look a little misty. "I missed a lot with my kids." He lets it hang there and she understands. She always understands him, even when he doesn't speak. She crosses the kitchen to stand behind him, putting her mug next to his on the table and wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders. 

" We could do it, you know," she says into his ear. "Raise her like she's ours . We would have to make some changes but if that's what you want I'm with you. However you need me." 

 

"I almost kissed you in that elevator," he angles his head so they're cheek to cheek and sighs when she runs a hand through his hair. 

"So what's stopping you now?" Karen asks and pulls him in. 

Some time after, by some miracle, all three of them are ready to go. After that first kiss, neither of them want to stay apart long. They opt for the train seeing as they don't have a car seat and make it to the precinct with time to spare


End file.
